[Dave Willis]

Ooh, who bent the finials on that conservatory  

[dazmond]

how on earth has that job taken you 17 HOURS!!

f/s/g clean and roof and windows(i dont do gutter clearing)would have taken me around 5 hours.

roof     3 hours

f/s/g     1 hour

all windows and frames(and packing up) 1 hour

i would of charged £120 for roof.£60 for f/s/g plus the normal window clean price.

why havent you cleaned the edges of the conny roof?you can clearly see their still dirty.also the plastic struts and some panels still look a bit grubby.

this is how i would of done the job

f/s/g cleaned first and windows at the front of the property.pure water only.

next id clean the same on the sides and back(upper windows/f/s/g).

then id spray the finials and panels with virosol on the awkward side of the conservatory and use ladders and stand off.plug into customers outside tap and scrub and rinse everything lots of times paying particular attentions to finials and plastic struts.

then id spray a strong mix of virosol and clean the whole front and sides of the roof ,again paying a lot of attention to everything.really scrubbing and rinsing everything loads of times with high pressure from outside tap.

then id get up the ladder and check the whole roof and give a final rinse.

on to outside gutters on conservatory then switch back to pure for cleaning the windows.then pack everything away.job done.

5 hours.£200(if the normal window clean price is say £20)

[dazmond]

id use a radius stiff or medium mixed sill brush on a carbon gooseneck for the roof.the same for the f/s/g but with a resi neck so i could adjust the angle.

[Crystal-clear]

window lickers im sure you will find this is standard procedure, as you can see another member who is quite successful also impliments this
he even gets to to direct debit it up , actually just like i do had a call now £20 upfront for the first clean and £5 a month (2 monthly job) i havnt even turned up nor has she seen me yet.
just got the mandate back..

unfortunately some customers will be out there to rip you off no matter how good the job is , always protect yourself
this is the reason why we state that we are in charge of the work quality as some of customers will require you to replace windows rather then clean to a satisfactory standard its not on every job its mainly on larger jobs then your standard domestic price..

no need for a debate i know what im doing works extreamly well and im sure it works extreamly well for others if you want to give every tom dick and harry credit especially for large paying jobs on first clean thats your decision personally ive been there done that have bags of experience and i know its a vast improvement to  
how i was operating before,
Goodluck

[Dave Willis]

Dazmond, that's a sixty pounds an hour job if ever I saw one.

[Bungle]

Out of interest, how did you get to the roof near the wall of the house?

[Crystal-clear]

i have one word "UPFRONT"

i would never in a million years do that unless the customer pays upfront,

i had a new customer today my rules are if its over £30 its upfront or walk ,i told her not to take it personally that its just procedure and that we will do our best but we decide whats satisfactory not you and i explained that unfortunately over the years we had a handful of cases similar to this story, (all were small values) but still i would never Gamble like you did mate learn from it i would give the old Court letter system a go, but next time someone wants a big job get paid first then work ,

you will maybe loose some but you will also gain some and the way i see it is it isn't worth the stress and loss of moral being ripped off for a £10 front is annoying but on a job like that id prolly loose it and i certainly don't want to so upfront or goodbye

Ha ha ha you are havin' a laff me of' China!


We decide what's satisfactory not you. I've heard it all now. Next you'll be asking them to do the cleaning for you.

i have to say thou this cracked me up i was laughing for ages i can just imagine "well here you go sir on first cleans we like the customer to clean there own windows it gives them an idea of what to expect"

"this is how you hold the pole watch where you step now"
hhahahahah  

[david68]

how on earth has that job taken you 17 HOURS!!

f/s/g clean and roof and windows(i dont do gutter clearing)would have taken me around 5 hours.

roof     3 hours

f/s/g     1 hour

all windows and frames(and packing up) 1 hour

i would of charged £120 for roof.£60 for f/s/g plus the normal window clean price.

why havent you cleaned the edges of the conny roof?you can clearly see their still dirty.also the plastic struts and some panels still look a bit grubby.

this is how i would of done the job

f/s/g cleaned first and windows at the front of the property.pure water only.

next id clean the same on the sides and back(upper windows/f/s/g).

then id spray the finials and panels with virosol on the awkward side of the conservatory and use ladders and stand off.plug into customers outside tap and scrub and rinse everything lots of times paying particular attentions to finials and plastic struts.

then id spray a strong mix of virosol and clean the whole front and sides of the roof ,again paying a lot of attention to everything.really scrubbing and rinsing everything loads of times with high pressure from outside tap.

then id get up the ladder and check the whole roof and give a final rinse.

on to outside gutters on conservatory then switch back to pure for cleaning the windows.then pack everything away.job done.

5 hours.£200(if the normal window clean price is say £20)

Not even tempted to explain or comment of this above post. Seems like a previous customer of mine

[david68]

Out of interest, how did you get to the roof near the wall of the house?

It was hard but all my pole are carbon so no horrible bend, and i used alot of made up quick release brushes that attch to gardeniers quck release sytem.

I was standing above with my upto 5mtr height portable tower.

Used a back sprayer mixed with chemicals to soak the roof, at be careful as all finnals was lose and made from some type of metal, they are leaning all over the place.

I use a carbon pole with a hand made 4" cobweb brush with carbon goose keck and one single fan jet to tackle finnels in the middle.

Hope this make sense

[david68]

sorry about spelling mistakes its the drugs im on at the moment,
I can re type them but those who are reading can fill the mistakes of wording

[Crystal-clear]

seriously Dave, taking the money upfront i feel is the best advice you're gonna hear, my girl friend wants carpet fitted in her rental property 2 carpet fitters have
told us to pay upfront or get stuffed quite bluntly too and i honestly don't blame them as we talking about £200 here, not say £30 or £40 good customers know that idiots exist and they certainly don't want to own a carpet worth £100 cos the general public has had a change of heart...
its standard mate

[DaveG]

Crystal, did you get your van fibre glassed?

(sorry to hijack post)

[david68]

You've lost me here - so you got paid nothing?

She said you would pay me something, but i never even asked how much, I did say she could donate something to my Cancer charity,
She still will even text me to see where i am next month to clean her windows (as she said i am very good at cleaning windows).
To be honest she as been a nice customer up till now, But after 10 years i never had this.
Maybe i should look at payments upfront by bacs, Or stick to window cleaning and pressure washing and leave these jobs alone.

Leave this type of work to Desmond

[david68]

seriously Dave, taking the money upfront i feel is the best advice you're gonna hear, my girl friend wants carpet fitted in her rental property 2 carpet fitters have
told us to pay upfront or get stuffed quite bluntly too and i honestly don't blame them as we talking about £200 here, not say £30 or £40 good customers know that idiots exist and they certainly don't want to own a carpet worth £100 cos the general public has had a change of heart...
its standard mate

Maybe your right, but out of many of have done (which is a very lot), this is the first, But i understand do not take chases in future so i do agree, I clean most of the neibours so i will take and show pictures.
I did a free job for her mother once (fixed gutter above door) Said to her why as the family not sorted this, she replied i told them 5 years ago. Anyway she was 92 and lived next door and part of this conservatory was hers with a divided partition. ( She sent me £30 through the post ) now passed away sp all hers now

[Mike #1]

That is a really tuff thing to swallow mate I assume she knows about your cancer what an absolute p take from her .

Most folks wont pay the prices I now quote so considering sacking off add on jobs altogether . Mike

[david68]

That is a really tuff thing to swallow mate I assume she knows about your cancer what an absolute p take from her .

Most folks wont pay the prices I now quote so considering sacking off add on jobs altogether . Mike

She knows everything, as customers know sometimes i cannot make it

[david68]

Cancer is not an excuse to pay.

But i did a excellent job thats why i wanted all my money not some like a desperate person.
But my funds that i donate to help patients while being treated, will be less this quarter of the year.

Lucky i do this work myself so no wages to pay out

[Crystal-clear]

Crystal, did you get your van fibre glassed?

(sorry to hijack post)

i did dave thanks for asking! , that roofer did it sorry i should have updated that post with some pictures but ive been flat out catching up,
that roofer was over the moon easiest £160 he will earn(inc mats) it wasnt too hard i see what u ment about doing it yourself
he is due back to silicone some bits found a leak! like under the ply and around the anker point no drama!

[tonycarr]

i give customers a choice with upvc cleans

choice 1....pole, brush, water & virosol.....is basic clean charge £?

choice 2.... using cream & non scratch scourers is restoration work for a better finish charge £££ more than basic

i tell them i cant restore f/s/g above connys, only basic, choice 1 because of reach

tony

[Crystal-clear]

back on topic dave,

she knows what she is doing im sure you have done loads but im not sure if you ever mass marketed you get more messers that way,
some people feel they have done a good thing by saving money by finding any reason under the sun not to pay and rip someone off,

as i mentioned previously today i had someone who was showing all the happy customer signs recommendation next door and next door is happy with you since 2011 etc etc, a really really expensive house in sw london

regardless i told her
"Great this is how we operate first clean is double after that its strictly monthly direct debits if you are satisfied"then i found the right moment to say "unfortunately we
need to ask for the first clean payment upfront "it was £50" this is because unfortunately a small minority of customers has caused us problems" also i said "its nothing personal its just our standard procedure"

now her face slightly changed ofcorse its maybe not the best way to start off however by mentioning its nothing personal she understood how some people treat the self employed and quite frankly she knows she wouldnt risk working for free too and paid, job done well knock on the door and details exchanged she will be called within 2 weeks to be given the half price clean
everyones a winner